Locking apparatus for doors of housings or cabinets having a narrow frame profile

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a lock for doors of housings or cabinets with particularly narrow frame profiles, comprising a bolt mechanism which is longitudinally moveably guided in the frame profile, and a door plate which can be fixed on the outside of the door leaf, said door plate having a first door plate area ( 11 ) with the handle ( 13 ) located therein and a second door plate area ( 12 ) in which the locking device is located.

DESCRIPTION

[0001] The invention relates to a locking apparatus for doors ofhousings or cabinets having in particular narrow frame profiles, with abolt mechanism that is longitudinally guided in the frame profile of thecabinet or housing, and with a door plate that can be fixed to theexterior of the door leaf and in which a handle can be pulled out of theplane of the door plate and can be locked and unlocked in its insertedposition in the door plate by means of a lock in the door plate, wherebyarranged in the intermediate space located between the door leaf and thedoor plate are at least one pinion coupled to the handle and onetransfer member that is driven by the pinion and that can, forlongitudinally displacing it, be coupled to the bolt mechanism arrangedin the frame profile of the cabinet or housing, and whereby the doorplate has at least one member that is for receiving the lock and thatextends through the door leaf in a through-hole arranged outside of theframe profile, and whereby the door plate has a first door plate areareceiving the handle and a second door plate area.

[0002] EP 0 675 994 B1 describes a locking apparatus having theforegoing features that is suitable especially for cabinets andhousings, the frame profiles of which have only a narrow cross-sectionfor receiving a bolt mechanism housed therein. This bolt mechanismcomprises at least one locking rod in rod guides guided in the frameprofile, and engaging locking mounts located in the frame profile of thecabinet or housing. Since the frame profile does not have adequate roomfor receiving actuating parts affixed on the door and projecting overits interior side, which parts protrude all the way to the cabinet planewhen the door is closed, in the known locking apparatus the door plateis formed with two door plate areas, whereby the handle, along withpinion, pivot pin bearing, and the locking apparatus for the handle arearranged in the second door plate area located laterally beside theframe profile of the cabinet or housing and here go through the doorleaf toward the interior in provided through-holes, while the first doorplate area, which does not have any special functioning parts, coversthe transfer member arranged in the intermediate space between door leafand door plate and its connection to the bolt mechanism located in theframe profile of the cabinet or housing.

[0003] The known locking apparatus is associated with the disadvantagethat, due to the arrangement of handle and pinion in the second doorplate area, a substantial distance to the bolt mechanism to be driventhereby must be bridged by means of the transfer member, so that, forinstance, if the bolt mechanism tilts in the frame profile when thehandle is actuated, a corresponding amount of torque must be applied,which increases the actuating forces to be applied and results in a highdegree of stress to the cooperating teeth in the components so that theservice life of the locking apparatus can be reduced.

[0004] The object of the present invention is therefore to prevent theaforesaid disadvantages in a locking apparatus with the genericfeatures.

[0005] This object is achieved, including advantageous embodiments andfurther developments of the invention, using the contents of the patentclaims that follow this specification.

[0006] The basic idea of the invention is that the first door plate areareceiving the handle with the pinion borne on the interior-side of thedoor plate is arranged in front of the frame profile of the cabinet orhousing with the bolt mechanism located therein, and, guided as atransfer member in the gap existing between pinion and the exterior wallof the first door plate area, is a toothed rod that is arranged parallelto the door leaf and that on its leading edge has teeth that engage inthe pinion teeth and that has on its surface facing the frame profile aconnecting element for the bolt mechanism arranged in the frame profileof the housing or cabinet, and in that the second door plate arealocated outside of the frame profile before the at least onethrough-hole of the door leaf has a mount for the lock for the handlethat is arranged in the second door plate area, whereby the lock whenactuated causes the release of the handle via a bolt plate that spansthe first and second door plate areas and that is displaceable againstthe effect of a spring.

[0007] The present invention has the advantage that the handle providedfor actuating the bolt mechanism located in the frame profile of thehousing or cabinet is housed with the pinion and transfer member in thefirst door plate area that comes to rest before the frame profile whenthe door is closed without components that go through the door leafbeing necessary, so that the actuating forces can be transferred fromthe handle on the short path directly to the bolt mechanism. If the lockfor the handle protrudes over the door leaf plane towards the interiordue to the necessary components, the lock is arranged in the second doorplate area located outside the frame profile of the cabinet or housingwhen the door is closed so that it is only necessary to provide for atransfer of the closing or opening forces from the lock to thelocking/unlocking for the handle, which inventively occurs by means ofthe bolt plate displaceably arranged on the interior side of the doorplate.

[0008] In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention it is provided that the toothed rod is embodied in arectangular shape with one leg actuated by the pinion and with one guideleg arranged at right angles thereto, and the guide leg has a cutout forengaging a nose located on the bolt plate mounted on the door plate.This embodiment is associated with the advantage that the toothed roddoes not require any particular mount, but rather is displaceably fixedvia the nose engaging it that is a part of the bolt plate mounted on thedoor plate.

[0009] With regard to the embodiment and mounting of the pinion, inaccordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it isprovided that the pinion is embodied as a flat disk rotatably borne in ahat-shaped bearing ring of the door plate with pinion teeth that areaxially raised on one side, whereby the diameter of the disk is greaterthan the diameter of the pinion teeth. This is associated with theadvantage that the toothed rod provides the mount for the pinion in thatthe teeth embodied on the leading edge of the toothed rod engage in thepinion teeth raised axially on the disk and thereby is adjacent to thedisk forming the pinion and thereby simultaneously holds the pinionagainst its bearing in the hat-shaped bearing ring.

[0010] If the pinion is fixed and borne on the door plate, in accordancewith one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the pinionitself is also used for the attachment or pivotable mounting of thehandle in the door plate in that it is provided that the pinion has onits side opposing the pinion teeth a projection that extends into thedepression of the door plate that receives the handle, on whichprojection are mounted a pivot pin of the handle engaging in the pinionin a form fit and the handle borne so as to be pivotable at right anglesto the door plate plane. Since the handle is fixed on the pinion withthe pivot pin, there is no need for attaching the pivot pin or the shaftextending through the pinion by means of a separate fastening nut, as isrequired in the prior art, which would also project into the interior ofthe cabinet or housing in an undesired manner.

[0011] In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, if it is provided that the mounting of handle and pivot pinis detachable on the projection of the pinion when the handle is in aposition pulled-out from the door plate, this results in the advantagethat when the door plate is reconfigured to be right- or left-fixed, thehandle and pivot pin can be removed from the exterior side of the doorplate and can be re-installed once the door plate has been turnedwithout it being necessary to access the actuating mechanism located inthe interior of the door plate.

[0012] With respect to the options for selectably installing the doorplate in a right-fixed or left-fixed door, or with respect to turningthe door with the door plate already mounted, in accordance with oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention it is provided that twopinions are borne in associated bearing rings in a symmetricalarrangement on the interior side of the door plate and the teeth of thetoothed rod engage the two pinions. If the toothed rod engages the twopinions, when the toothed rod is actuated, one pinion is caused torotate with no effect by the other pinion that is attached to the handleso that when the door plate or handle is reconfigured, the other pinionis used for the actuating pinion. Thus the door plate can be used as aunit in different installations without regard to the components builtinto its interior, whereby it is merely necessary to change the handleto a position rotated by 180°.

[0013] With regard to the desired selectable installation of the doorplate for a right-fixed or left-fixed door, in accordance with oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention it is provided that thelock, which is also to be used depending on the installation position,can be selectably employed in different positions in the door plate. Inaddition it can be provided that the second door plate area has at bothits upper and lower edge areas an opening for selectably inserting thelock that extends through the associated through-hole in the door leafand the other opening can be covered by a blind cap that is insertablein the door plate. For visual reasons, in accordance with one exemplaryembodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the opening of thesecond door plate area receiving the lock can be covered by means of asliding cap that can be displaced in the door plate transverse to thevertical axis of the door plate; using the sliding cap results inappropriately covering the blind cap used in the other opening on theopening receiving the lock, whereby the exterior view of the door plateis designed in an appropriate manner.

[0014] In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, the blind cap and sliding cap can be convex relative to thedoor plate and can be exchangeably employed in a guide adjoining theopening of the door plate. Due to the convex design, the guide andbearing of the sliding cap and blind cap on the door plate areself-locking without having to worry about the caps falling out.

[0015] The drawings illustrate one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention that is described in the following. Shown is:

[0016]FIG. 1 a full view of a locking apparatus;

[0017]FIG. 2 a back view of the door plate of the locking apparatus withfunctional parts;

[0018]FIG. 3 the subject of FIG. 2 in an exploded view;

[0019]FIGS. 4a, b different individual views of the pinion;

[0020]FIG. 5 a side view of the handle.

[0021] A door leaf 60 with a folded edge 61 of a cabinet or housing canbe placed against a frame profile 62 in a closed cabinet or housing,whereby arranged in the frame profile is a bolt mechanism 63 asdescribed in detail in the generic EP 0 675 994 B1 with the closing rod12 and parts that cooperate therewith.

[0022] Affixed to the exterior side of the door leaf 60 for actuatingthe bolt mechanism 63 is a door plate 10 that has a first door platearea 11 with the handle 13 arranged therein and a second door plate area12 in which is arranged a lock for the handle 13, which apparatus willbe described in detail. While the first door plate area 11 with thehandle 13 comes to rest before the frame profile 62 when the door isclosed, the second door plate area 12 is outside of the frame profile 62of the cabinet or housing so that parts that project inward into thecabinet or housing over the door leaf 60 for functional reasons, andthat are provided with covering caps 16, pass through the door leafthrough cutouts 64 provided for this purpose. As can furthermore be seenfrom FIG. 1, provided at the upper end of the door plate 10 is aninserted blind cap 14 that can receive, for instance, a manufactureremblem, while arranged at the lower end of the door plate 10 forcovering the receiving opening provided there, in this case for a lockfor the handle 13, is a sliding cap 15 that can be pushed to the leftwhen the locking apparatus is in use so that it exposes the lockarranged therebehind, for instance in the form of a cylinder lock, whichcylinder lock is covered on the back by the associated covering cap 16.

[0023]FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate in detail the functional structure of thelocking apparatus, that is, of the door plate as carrier of theactuating functions. It should be noted that with regard to desiredinstallation of the door plate 10 for a left-fixed or right-fixed door,which requires the door plate to be rotated 180°, the door plate isdesigned and equipped symmetrically so that to re-configure the door itis only necessary to change the handle inserted in the door plate, aswill be described in detail.

[0024] Projecting into the interior in the region of each of the twoends of the handle 13 on the door leaf and here at its first door platearea are hat-shaped bearing rings 17, each of which bears a pinion 18.The basic body of the pinion 18 comprises a disk 19 that with a bearingprojection 19 a facing the handle 13 engages the hat-shaped bearing ring17 and is borne here (see FIG. 4b). Placed on the side of the disk 19facing the door leaf 60 are pinion teeth 20, whereby the diameter of thepinion teeth 20 is smaller than the diameter of the disk 19. On thebearing side the pinion 18 also has a U-shaped closed projection 21 thatextends through the hat-shaped bearing ring 17 into the depression thatreceives the handle 13 so that the handle 13 can be affixed directly tothe pinion 18. A pivot pin 22 forming the axis of rotation for thehandle 13 is inserted in a form fit into the associated opening 18 a ofthe pinion 18 and together with corresponding bearing projections of thehandle 13 is affixed to the projection 21 of the pinion 18 bycorresponding receipt in pivot pin 22 and handle 13 so that the handle13 can pivot around the axis 23 perpendicular to the plane of the doorplate, but also so that rotating the handle 13 parallel to the plane ofthe door plate 10 results in a rotational movement of the pinion 18. Ascan be seen in FIG. 5, the handle 13 is under the effect of apre-tensioned spring 24 that urges it to the position pulled out fromthe door plate 10.

[0025] Provided for transferring the rotational movement of the pinion18 into a longitudinal movement of the bolt mechanism 63 is a toothedrod 25 that is embodied with two legs. Arranged on the leading edge 27of the leg 26 arranged parallel to the door plate plane are the teeththat cooperate with the pinion 18, while the guide leg 30 of the toothedrod 25 is guided in the interior on guide noses 31 located on thehousing surface of the door plate 10. Embodied on the leg 26 areconnection openings 29 in which projections embodied on the boltmechanism 63 engage in a manner not shown when the door is closed sothat displacing the toothed rod 25 is translated to actuating the boltmechanism 63. Since two pinions 18 are borne on the bearing rings 17 dueto the symmetrical design of the door plate, the toothed rod 25 extendsacross both pinions 18, whereby only one pinion acts as drive pinionunder the effect of the handle 13, while the other pinion rotates withno effect when the toothed rod 25 is displaced.

[0026] Since the leg 26 of the toothed rod 25 is adjacent to theprotruding disk 19 opposite the pinion teeth 20, both pinions aremaintained in their bearing in their associated bearing ring 17 by thetoothed rod 25; the toothed rod 25 has in the guide leg 30 alongitudinal slot 32 in which a nose 34 arranged on a bolt plate 33 (tobe described in the following) engages so that the toothed rod 25 isguided and fixed via the bolt plate 33 mounted on the door plate 10 andthus also holds the pinions 18 without additional means of attachment,whereby the pinions 18 themselves hold the handle 13 as described.

[0027] The aforesaid bolt plate 33 is held in the interior on the doorplate 10 by means of screws 38 such that the bolt plate 33 is verticallydisplaceable. In its middle region the bolt plate 33 has a boltprojection 41 that engages and releases a hook 66 formed on the handle13 (FIG. 5) so that depending on the position of the bolt plate 32 inthe door plate 10 the handle 13 is held in its position pulled out ofthe door plate 10 under the effect of the spring 24 or is held in itsinserted position.

[0028] The bolt plate 33 extends laterally from its attachment at thescrews 38 across the second door plate area 12 and cooperates viaprojecting actuating surfaces 35 formed on it with the closing cam of alock cylinder (not shown), which, as described for FIG. 1, is insertedin the lower opening 44 in the door plate 10 and is held to the rear bya mount 37. As can be seen with the view in FIG. 1, the lower coveringcap 16 covers the lock cylinder (not shown) with the mount 37. Theactuating surfaces 35 are provided with an end stop 36 for the closingcam (not shown) of the cylinder lock. Located between the twosymmetrically arranged actuating surfaces 35 is a housing 39 for aspring 40 disposed thereunder that is supported on the projections ofthe door plate 10 and, on the interior, on the housing 39 of the boltplate 33 such that the effect of the spring acts in both actuatingdirections of the bolt plate 33.

[0029] As can be seen in particular in FIG. 3, connected to the openings44 for inserting the lock is a guide slot 45 in which the sliding cap 15covering the inserted lock is guided or into which the blind cap 14 canbe inserted.

[0030] The attachment of the door plate 10 to the door leaf occurs viaattaching screws that pass through the door leaf and screw into thescrew domes 42 of the door plate 10, whereby the covering caps 16 placedon the back side and screwed in with screw domes 43 also ensure that thedoor plate 10 is attached while clamping the door leaf.

[0031] If the lock behind the sliding cap 15 is actuated, the bolt plateis displaced against the effect of the spring 40 via the movement of theclosing cam (not shown) along the associated actuating surface 35 of thebolt plate 33, so that the bolt projection 41 releases the hook 66 ofthe handle 13 and the handle 13 opens out of the plane of the door plate10 under the effect of the spring 24. Then the handle 13 can be graspedand pivoted in a plane parallel to the plane of the door plate 10.

[0032] This pivoting is translated into a rotational movement of thepinion 18, which displaces the toothed rod 25, which itself causes thebolt mechanism 63 connected to it to move when it is displaced.

[0033] The special nature of the locking apparatus, in addition to thepositioning of the first and second door plate areas, is that themovable parts, such as handle, pivot pin, pinion, and toothed rod, holdthemselves or are fixed by the nose 14 of the bolt plate 33 so that onlythe bolt plate 33 has to be screwed to the door plate 10. If the doorplate 10 configured in the illustration in FIG. 1 on a right-fixed dooris to be converted to a left-fixed door, either by rotating the doorleaf or by re-configuring the door plate, it is merely necessary toremove the handle 13 from the door plate 10 and, once it has beenrotated 180°, re-install it, whereby no additional adaptations arenecessary due to the symmetrical construction of all of the functioningparts in the interior of the door plate 10, such as pinions, toothedrod, etc. The handle can be re-configured from the front side of thedoor plate in that with the handle in the pulled out position the axis23 is removed from the projection 21 of the pinion 18, whereby the pivotpin 22 and the handle 13 come free of the pinion 18. Once the door plate10 has been rotated, it is only necessary for the pivot pin to beinserted into the opposing pinion 18 and together with the handle 13 tobe added by inserting the axis 23 into the projection 21 of the otherpinion 18. In the same manner, it is possible to re-configure the lockin a simple manner in that the blind cap 14 and the sliding cap 15 areremoved from the guide slots 45 of the openings 44. Once the twocovering caps 16 have been unscrewed, the mount 37 can be removed fromthe door plate 10 and replaced in the area of the other opening 44 in aposition of the door plate 10 that has rotated 180° so that the lock inthe form of a cylinder lock (not shown) can be inserted and fixed. Oncethe covering caps 16 have been screwed on and the associated blind cap14 and sliding cap 15 have been installed, the locking apparatus isready for use again.

[0034] The locking apparatus described in the foregoing is suitable forinstallation in cabinets or housings having different heights because atotal of three connection openings 29 for coupling to the bolt mechanism63 are formed in the toothed rod 25. If correspondingly short lockingrods are used for the bolt mechanism 63 in a smaller cabinet or housing,these can be connected to the center connection opening 29. In the caseof a correspondingly taller cabinet or housing, shorter locking rods canbe connected for the bolt mechanism 63 in each of the outer connectionopenings 29 of the toothed rod 25 so that it is possible to use shortlocking rods for the bolt mechanism 63 even in cabinets of greaterheight.

[0035] The features of the subject of this document disclosed in theforegoing specification, patent claims, abstract, and drawings can beessential individually and in any desired combinations for realizing theinvention in its various embodiments.

1. Locking apparatus for doors of housings or cabinets having inparticular narrow frame profiles (62), with a bolt mechanism (63) thatis longitudinally guided in the frame profile (62) of the cabinet orhousing, and with a door plate (10) that can be fixed to the exterior ofthe door leaf (60), and in which a handle (13) can be pulled out of theplane of said door plate (10) and in its inserted position in said doorplate (10) can be locked and unlocked by means of a lock in said doorplate (10), whereby arranged in the intermediate space located betweensaid door leaf (60) and said door plate (10) are at least one pinion(18) coupled to said handle (13) and one transfer member that is drivenby said pinion (18) and that can, for longitudinally displacing it, becoupled to said bolt mechanism (63) arranged in said frame profile (62)of said cabinet or housing, and whereby said door plate (10) has atleast one member that is for receiving said lock and that extendsthrough said door leaf (60) in a through-hole (64) arranged outside ofsaid frame profile (62), and whereby said door plate (10) has a firstdoor plate area (11) receiving said handle (13) and a second door platearea (12), characterized in that said first door plate area (11)receiving said handle (13) with said pinion (18) borne on theinterior-side of said door plate (10) is arranged in front of said frameprofile of said cabinet or housing with said bolt mechanism locatedtherein, and, guided as a transfer member in the gap existing betweenpinion (18) and the exterior wall of said first door plate area (11), isa toothed rod (25) that is arranged parallel to said door leaf and thaton its leading edge (27) has teeth (28) that engage in said pinion teeth(20) and that has on its surface facing said frame profile a connectingelement (29) for said bolt mechanism arranged in said frame profile ofthe housing or cabinet, and in that said second door plate area (12)located outside of said frame profile before the at least onethrough-hole of said door leaf has a mount (37) for said lock for saidhandle (13) that is arranged in said second door plate area (12),whereby said lock when actuated causes the release of said handle (13)via a bolt plate (33) that spans said first and second door plate areas(11, 12) and that is displaceable against the effect of a spring. 2.Locking apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that saidtoothed rod (25) is embodied in an angular shape with one leg (26)actuated by said pinion (18) and with one guide leg (30) arranged atright angles thereto, and said guide leg (30) has a cut-out (32) forengaging a nose (41) located on said bolt plate (33) mounted on saiddoor plate (10).
 3. Locking apparatus in accordance with claim 1 or 2,characterized in that said pinion (18) is embodied as a flat disk (19)rotatably borne in a hat-shaped bearing ring (17) of said door plate(10) with pinion teeth (20) that are axially raised on one side, wherebythe diameter of said disk (19) is greater than the diameter of saidpinion teeth (20).
 4. Locking apparatus in accordance with any of claims1 through 3, characterized in that said pinion (18) has on its sideopposing said pinion teeth (20) a projection (21) that extends into therecess of said door plate (10) that receives said handle (13), on whichare mounted a pivot pin (22) of said handle (13) engaging in said pinion(18) in a form fit and said handle (13) borne so as to be pivotable atright angles to the plane of said door plate.
 5. Locking apparatus inaccordance with claim 4, characterized in that the mounting of handle(13) and pivot pin (22) is detachable on said projection (21) of saidpinion (18) when said handle (13) is in a position pulled out from saiddoor plate (10).
 6. Locking apparatus in accordance with any of claims 1through 5, characterized in that two pinions (18) are borne onassociated bearing rings (17) in a symmetrical arrangement on theinterior side of said door plate (10), and said teeth (28) of saidtoothed rod (25) engage said two pinions (18).
 7. Locking apparatus inaccordance with any of claims 1 through 6, characterized in that saidsecond door plate area (12) has at both its upper and lower edge areasan opening (44) for selectably inserting said lock that extends throughsaid associated through-hole in said door leaf, and said other opening(44) can be covered by a blind cap (14) that is insertable in said doorplate (10).
 8. Locking apparatus in accordance with any of claims 1through 7, characterized in that said opening (44) of said second doorplate area (12) receiving said lock can be covered by means of a slidingcap (15) that can be displaced in said door plate (10) transverse to thevertical axis of said door plate (10).
 9. Locking apparatus inaccordance with claim 7 or 8, characterized in that blind cap (14) andsliding cap (15) are convex relative to said door plate (10) and can beexchangeably employed in a guide (45) that adjoins said opening (44) ofsaid door plate (10).